Patients having wounds, lesions, burns or other similar trauma or injury to the hands require special treatment to preserve the function of the hand while promoting healing of the injury. According to Smith et al., Burns 14, (5): 405-408, (1988), six principles have been formulated for the care of burned hands to achieve the return of optimal function, including: (1) to do no harm; (2) to maintain vascularity; (3) to prevent infection; (4) to obtain wound closure; (5) to preserve and regain motion; and (6) to obtain optimal functional rehabilitation.
While various materials and methods of manufacturing gloves are known in the art, these materials and methods are not generally applicable to medical gloves used to cover an injured hand. For example, in one method, gloves are made by cutting two complimentary, flat, top and bottom hand-shaped sections and sewing them together around the perimeter, leaving an opening at the wrist end. One problem with using this type of glove to cover an injured hand is that the glove does not provide for an easy and comfortable insertion or removal of the hand. Further, gloves of this instruction do not allow comfortable movement of the injured hand, which could be harmful to return of optimal hand function.
Prior art medical gloves or hand dressings have attempted to avoid the above-described problems by enlarging the overall size of the glove so that the opening is wide enough to insert the hand and provide a loose fit. However, one problem with such an over-sized glove construction is that the loose fit causes the glove or dressing to slip off the hand. Also, the over-sized glove construction may cause loss of hand coordination and manipulation skills. For example, the excess material of an over-sized glove may make it difficult to handle small objects such as writing instruments or eating utensils.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a medical glove for covering or dressing hands having wounds, lesions, burns or similar injuries, which facilitates easy insertion and removal of the hand and a comfortable fit, while still enabling a simple glove construction. It is another object to provide a medical glove or dressing which provides optimal hand coordination and manipulation functions and return of optimal hand function to a burn or other trauma patient. It is a further object to provide a medical glove made from a unique material which facilitates healing of the injured hand.